Herbert Sydney Rixon, known as Burt, is 101 years old, so I'm surprised at having to take a steep and substantial flight of stairs to get to the front door of his home for our catch-up.
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A CD of Glen Miller plays loudly but Burt hears me knock and holler nonetheless.
He invites me in and I immediately take note of the letters proudly lining the hallway walls; all well wishes and congratulations for his 100th birthday from Her Majesty the Queen, the Prime Minister of Australia, Minister for Veteran' Affairs, New South Wales Premier and other names beginning with 'The Honourable.'
We head into the kitchen where apple rhubarb is bubbling away on the stove. Burt asks me to add lemon juice, which he has competently squeezed but can't confidently measure out.
The landline rings and he allows the answering machine to act as his receptionist. From my personal experience he always answers before the caller can finish their message.
Burt has prepared a pot of tea for my arrival and I strain the brew and add two heaped teaspoons of sugar to Burt's mug.
He uses a torch to better inspect the amount milk poured in and allows me to add my own.
We take our cuppas to the dining room table, but before we get comfortable, Burt provides a tour of his humble dwelling.
He points out framed family photos of his children, grandchildren, and late wife.
He shows me model aircraft he's built and a stack of 'Take Off' magazines he keeps tucked away.
Burt opens the door to a room that was once his son's, Kevin Robert, who had Down syndrome and lived with Burt for the majority of his 46 years. The bedroom wall is lined with ten pin bowling awards and a framed photo collage.
Burt tells me about his eldest son Graham John who passed away in May 2022 at the age of 73, and gets emotional as he speaks.
"That almost killed me," he said.
He misses his sons, and loves all his children. His daughter Dianne Lesley visits him often and will be coming by the following Monday on her 75th birthday.
Tears begin to fall when Burt talks of his late wife Beryl Elaine who he married in 1943.
Beryl passed away in 1972. At age 33 she was diagnosed with breast cancer and at 46 the cancer "finally caught up with her and got to her spine," Burt tells me.
He quotes lyrics from a song; 'and the day you smiled at me, I felt my life begin,' and apologises while he cries. I hold back my own tears while holding his hand.
He uses his trusty torch to point out her framed black and white portrait on the wall, which sits below a photograph of a young Burt in uniform from his days in the air-force.
The landline rings again, and after a short conversation about his scripts being ready for pick-up, we sit down to talk about Burt's long life.
Burt was born on July 23, 1922, and grew up in Maroubra, Sydney.
He moved to South West Rocks with his family in 1997 and still uses a phone number beginning with 65-666.
With the sea-change, Burt decided to spend six months building a boat and then began a 17 year-long fishing career "to make some money."
He tells me he entered the workforce as a young teenager at a sawmill and didn't stop working until well into his 70's. While he no longer has a professional job, the 101 year says he is still busy working.
Until recently he was mowing and raking the lawn and tinkering in the downstairs workshop he built with the money made from fishing.
He even attempted to change a light-bulb just weeks ago and called an electrician only when he realised he couldn't see what he was doing. The electrician found him up a ladder.
Burt drove his own car until he hung up the keys on his 99th birthday with a clean record.
"I thought 'I'm too young to die and I don't want to take anyone with me'," he said.
He stopped making model aeroplanes seven months ago when, again, his eyesight failed him.
Burt began making aeroplane models as a kid out of bits of wood.
He tells me he got the job at sawmill at thirteen years old to make money for books on planes.
"I always knew I wanted to fly a plane," he said.
First love and WWII
Burt joined the air-force in 1941 when World War II was already underway, and remained a part of the force until the war ended in 1945.
In 1943 he married Beryl before going overseas with the war for two and a half years.
The couple met thanks to a friend of Burt's suggestion that the two of them visit to Luna Park because Burt he had never been.
"That's where I met my beauty," he said.
Burt recalls seeing the Amusement Park from the ferry, which was the sight of the day until he noticed three young ladies walking together.
"Beryl was on the left, walking with a good work friend, Iris Mavis and Diggers' wife. Digger was in Africa at the time," Burt said.
"She turned around and she smiled at me, and I don't know."
After a conversation, Burt and his pal took the girls home.
"Beryl and I stayed on the tram and yap, yap, yap. I asked if I could see her again and she said yes. And that was the start of it."
Burt was already in the airforce at the time the two met and knew he was going away for war.
"She was my first real girlfriend," he said.
When Burt was based in Queensland he was provided leave to get married in Sydney. Just six weeks later he was sent to Townsville and then "boarded the boat and didn't see Australia again for two and a half years."
First stop was Milne Bay in Papua Guinea, then onto Los Negros and Manus. From there they went to Aitape and then used Noemfoor as a bomber base for "quite a while" before going to Morotai Island.
Burt was in Borneo for the battles of Brunei Bay and Labaun.
"We saw the first bombs dropped from the aircraft. You could see the bombs coming out of the sky," he said
He recalls sleeping in a Japanese life boat that was wrecked on the beach for a week.
Beryl was working at a Bakery as a book keeper when they met and continued working while Burt was away.
"She was instrumental in saving money and was the reason we got our house."
Burt and Beryl spent 27 years together.
"I believe you can't have love without some very deep respect for that person. I firmly believe that," said Burt.
"There must be a lot of attraction there, and affection that's number one, you have to have deep affection."
Burt was on leave to visit his wife in Australia when he got news the war was over while in Woy Woy.
"I remember the people cheering in the street."
Once officially discharged from the air-force in 1946 in Brisbane, Burt got a job in a tobacco factory.
After decades in the industry Burt said he "was a bag of bloody nerves," and wanted to get out of Sydney.
He had a friend at South West Rocks and came to check out the village for a weekend.
"I said 'this is where I wanted to live' because it felt good," said Burt.
Secret to a long life
Burt believes keeping busy and all those years working has played a part.
"I've been working all my bloody life since I was thirteen," he said.
"My dad was the same, he couldn't bloody stop"
Burt said he also did a lot of walking in his day-to-day life; to school, to work, and around the city, which he suspects helped keep healthy.
But the real secret to his long life, according to Burt, is that he has "the best family."
